A new "Must See" show: I discovered Ugly Betty

[PoorYorick]

My Name is Earl and The Office were reruns last night, so I flipped around and saw that Ugly Betty was on. I'd heard some good reviews about the show and watched it.

Man, it's smart and funny, and seems to have fully realized characters. How could I have missed it? Oh, yeah, it's on at the same time as My Name is Earl and The Office. I'll be taping it from now on, but it's a crying shame that they've split the audience. I wonder how many people will never even give it a chance.

[myskepticsight]

Damnit I forgot to watch it last night because I was stressed about my paper (which I just now finished at the library, it's due today) and the Cards game was on. Good show. I usually watch that then CSI. I probably also forgot to watch it because I knew CSI was a repeat and I wasn't going to watch it.

[MovieMogul]

The OP shouldn't feel too bad about Betty--IIRC, its ratings are better than the NBC duo.

[Cowgirl Jules]

Since it's on at the same time as two of the three or four shows I also like to watch each week, I watch it from the ABC website later in the weekend. You can catch up on the older episodes too. I like it too, and wish they'd move the time.

[Eve]

Yep, Betty is my new favorite show. I watch it and tape Earl. Betty seems to get better and the characters more layered every week.

[AuntiePam]

Isn't it great? When I saw that Earl and The Office were repeats, I was hoping people would discover Betty. There's so much to like.

I really appreciated that the writers gave Betty a reason to choose Walter over the cute guy from accounting. We haven't seen Walter at his best, and I worried that Betty was staying with him just because she didn't want to be a flitter, or because she felt sorry for him. But there at the end, we saw them in tune with each other, and that was nice.

But oh dear, I'm feeling sympathy for Amanda now!

I still have no clue about Fey's accident, and how she can be alive when everyone thinks she's dead. What am I missing?

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I really appreciated that the writers gave Betty a reason to choose Walter over the cute guy from accounting. We haven't seen Walter at his best, and I worried that Betty was staying with him just because she didn't want to be a flitter, or because she felt sorry for him. But there at the end, we saw them in tune with each other, and that was nice.

Personally, I hope she dumps the desperate, two-timing creep. He doesn't deserve her in any way, and the only reason he's still got half-a-chance is because she's so beset with insecurities about never finding someone else and having had only one boyfriend thus far. She had great chemsitry with the guy from Floor 3 and I hope her "decision" this episode was some unfortunate backsliding and not of any permanence. Walter's a jerk who's only going to succeed in holding Betty back.

[Flea]

I saw Yo Soy Betty la Fea, the spanish novela this was adapted from, and I am happy to see that much of the quirkiness has translated well, although I think Vanessa Williams can't act her way out of a hat and I would have enjoyed someone much more along the lines of Megan Mullaly in that role. America is a great actress, innately sympathetic, and I love that they didn't get a stock model-type and give her glasses for the role.

I love everything about the show, but I keep missing it when I try to catch The Office. I didn't know they had the eps online tho, I'll try to catch those.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by ArchiveGuy

Walter's a jerk who's only going to succeed in holding Betty back.

The chicken soup doesn't count for anything?

I liked the other guy too, and he may well be better for Betty. He's witty, smart, sensitive. Plus he's cuter and taller than Walter, and has a better job.

But I like it better that Betty decided to give Walter another chance. I didn't feel that way until the end, where they had some rapport. She might be doing it just to keep from hurting his feelings though, and it'll be interesting to see how she deals with that, when she realizes it.

I guess I just like seeing someone on TV who isn't a serial lover.

[amarinth]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I still have no clue about Fey's accident, and how she can be alive when everyone thinks she's dead. What am I missing?

Speculation, but I'm putting it in spoiler tags, just in case

SPOILER:

I don't think that's Fey.... there was a throwaway line in last night's episode that makes me think that's someone else, who just had a ton of plastic surgery in order to look like Fey and to make everyone think she's Fey.
(Yes, I've watched soaps and this has soapy roots. It could happen.)

But I loved Henry the accounting guy. I want to see him again.

[AuntiePam]

That's some interesting speculation. And it makes sense too. The real Fey would have no reason to hide and let people think she was dead.

Any idea who it might be?

Another thing I liked about this episode was they didn't drag out the revelation that Betty's dad isn't here legally. And Justin's dancing -- the kid is talented.

[Arien]

I finally remembered to watch this last night, although I missed the first 10 minutes. Can anyone bring me up to speed?

That Henry guy is so dorky cute. How could Betty have turned him down?

Does anyone else have trouble with the ABC episode player? The times I have tried to use it, it would invariably fail halfway through, saying the commericals were unavailable. Once, it was all commercials and no show.

[pinkfreud]

Maybe I've seen too many episodes of Nip/Tuck, but here is a theory: if the mysterious bandaged person is not Fey, maybe it's actually Daniel's supposedly-deceased brother Alex, who has had extensive surgery and has become a woman.

[AuntiePam]

pinkfreud, I like that speculation too. Trying to come up with a reason why daddy's favorite son would reappear as daddy's mistress -- oooh, I don't know.

Arien, what I remember of the first ten minutes was Justin doing a cute song and dance as Gene Kelly, and Betty's dad doing some cool Halloween jokes -- blood spurting and stuff.

[Eve]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I liked the other guy too, and he may well be better for Betty. He's witty, smart, sensitive. Plus he's cuter and taller than Walter, and has a better job.

And he was in my favorite show, the late, lamented Popular.

[El Perro Fumando]

Originally Posted by Arien

Does anyone else have trouble with the ABC episode player? The times I have tried to use it, it would invariably fail halfway through, saying the commericals were unavailable. Once, it was all commercials and no show.

I had problems when I went to watch last week's (forgot to set the tivo and was not home to watch). I could get through two segments and then it would freeze in the middle of action. I had to restart to try to finish, but it happened again so I gave up.